New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras must now form a coalition after his party won the June 17 Greek election by a slim margin.
So the Greek results are in, the New Democracy party came first, and a fresh euro crisis has, for the moment, been averted.
In Greek elections, the party that comes first gets a 50-seat bonus in parliament which usually means, in the words of legendary football manger Bill Shankly, that “first is first, second is nowhere.” This time, however, things are quite different. The reputation of New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras was seriously damaged by his insistence on holding early elections in May this year, which was seen as putting his own desire to be Prime Minister before the good of the country. New Democracy may have done better this time around (29.66 percent against 18.85 percent in May), but the electoral results of the two 2012 elections have been the worst in the party’s 38-year history. Samaras now has to attempt form a coalition government with parties that detest him in a crisis ridden country that despises him, at the head of a party that would love to be rid of him. It will take all of his famous self-delusion do convince himself that he was yesterday’s big winner.
It will take all of Samaras’s famous self-delusion do convince himself that he was yesterday’s big winner.
The real winner in these elections was indisputably Alexis Tsipras, leader of the radical left wing SYRIZA party, which came second with 26.89 percent of the vote. From polling a mere 4.66 percent in 2009 (the last elections held under ‘normal’ conditions), Tsipras has done spectacularly well in the crisis, managing to cobble together a loose coalition of left wing radicals into a real political force, at the same time plundering the trades union and public sector power base of the more traditional PASOK socialists, who received a mere 12.28 percent of the vote, down from 44 percent in 2009. Had he won yesterday’s election, he would now face the task of forming a coalition government under extreme circumstances, and having to either pull Greece out of the Euro, or execute a dramatic U-turn and accept the terms of the EU bailout.
Tsipras often oozes insincerity, especially when discussing his party’s economic policies, but on Sunday he looked genuinely delighted at the result, and possibly not a little relieved. This election has given him the time to consolidate his own position in a radically empowered SYRIZA party, and to gain popularity by fighting the necessary reforms that the new parliament will have to try and implement. He is young enough at 37 to be in no hurry to claim the Prime Minister’s chair, especially at a time when it is such a poisoned chalice.
Tsiparas looked genuinely delighted at the result, and possibly not a little relieved on Sunday.
Tsipras’ first act on conceding was to rule out joining a coalition government, claiming that the democratic process required a strong opposition. But if he were truly putting the interests of the Greek people before his own ambitions as he claims, he would join the government and help to implement the reforms that are so desperately required.
Greece’s next Prime Minister will be her fourth in seven months. Bailout funding has been withheld while there is such political uncertainty, and the economy has almost ceased to function from lack of liquidity. Above all, Greece needs stability, not more manifestations of the democratic process. By remaining outside the government, SYRIZA has given great new hope to the vested interests in the public sector. Sadly, a return to the strikes and protests of the last three years looks more and more likely.
